"Now it's official!" wrote Dominik Waser, Managing Director of the Association for GMO-free Food, on November
12, 2025, after the Tagesanzeiger published a democratic political fiasco on the same day.
Without informing the population, the Federal Chancellery massively tightened the rules for certifying
signatures at the beginning of October and instructed the municipalities to check the signatures accordingly.
Signature forms where one person fills in the name and address for the whole family or shared flat are no
longer valid, even if each person signs personally.
Why is that? Companies that collected signatures for initiatives and referendums, often with forged signatures, in return for
orders and money were indirectly to blame for the tightening.
No one wants this "signature crap" anymore. But one thing is certain:
In any case, this does not solve the problem of forged signatures.
It is not the non-transparent collection companies that are being punished, but organizations that do not buy signatures.
It affects those committees that rely on voluntary collectors and mailing.
The stricter certification increases the administrative burden, creates uncertainty and
undermines trust in democratic procedures.
That is why the SDD+ Foundation has written an open letter to Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi with a
copy to the Federal Council, which you can co-sign.
What consequences does the amendment have for current popular initiatives and referendums?
Dominik Waser, Managing Director of the Association for GMO-free Food, which also actively
supports the food protection initiative, writes:
We expect that we will have to collect around 5,000 to 10,000 additional signatures.
This is associated with significantly greater administrative and control costs, which we naturally did not budget for.
But we are not giving up! Together we will get the necessary signatures, despite the unfair rules of the game.
If GMO-free food is important to you, you can help to ensure that the important food protection
initiative comes about. The initiative demands:
- Protecting humans, animals and the environment from the risks of genetic engineering
- Freedom of choice thanks to transparency on the shop shelf
- GMO-free agriculture is a CH quality feature.
- No patents on seeds - Diversity instead of genetic engineering
Order a signature sheet and sign!
You can find more information about the new genetic engineering in the program:
New genetic engineering, the patenting of nature through the back door!